Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:48 PM on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019
SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment
$GMBL Esports audience is 350M, growing to 590M, Esports wagering is
projected at $23 BILLION by 2020. The company has launched VIE.gg
esports betting platform and has accelerated affiliate marketing
agreements with 190 Esports teams. Click here for more information
—————————–
Integrated eSports facility opens in Hong Kong as the city seeks to become a regional hub
An integrated eSports complex called Cyber Games Arena (CGA) has opened in Hong Kong.
It hopes to attract 1.2m visitors and hold more than 100 local and overseas eSports competitions annually / SCMP. Â By Shawn Lim
The 25,000 sq ft facility cost HK$30 million ($3.8m) to build and
aims to turn the city into a regional eSports hub for young talent in
the industry as it grows. The two-storey building consists of training
facilities, a competition arena for up to 80 gamers, television
broadcasts, online streaming platforms and a retail area.
It hopes to attract 1.2m visitors and hold more than 100 local and overseas eSports competitions annually.
The Hong Kong government has also strengthened its support for the
eSports industry by allocating HK$100 million to Cyberport, a business
park in Hong Kong, to build an HK$50 million eSports competition venue
and nurturing talent for start-ups.
“Apart from subsidies, we will also improve the business environment
and remove red tape,†said Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the chief
executive of Hong Kong, who officiated the opening of the facility.
“The Innovation and Technology Bureau, the Home Affairs Bureau and
other departments are working together to solve problems related to
e-sports venues – a new guideline will be issued soon to help the
eSports industry.â€
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:19 PM on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019
SPONSOR: Bougainville Ventures Inc (CSE: BOG) Converting irrigated farmland to greenhouse-equipped farmland. Bougainville does not “touch the plant†and only provides agricultural infrastructure as a landlord for licensed marijuana growers. Click here for more info.
BOG:CSE —————————————
Canada’s chronic shortage of legal cannabis expected to drag out for years
One industry insider expects shortage to continue until 2022, as more legal cannabis diverted to edibles
Canada’s licensed producers are growing more cannabis than ever. But
they still aren’t making enough to balance supply and demand. (Derek
Hooper/CBC)
Canada’s persistent shortage of legal cannabis could drag on for
years. The impending legalization of edible pot will only divert more
product away from empty store shelves across the country. One industry
insider said he now expects that shortage to endure until 2022.
“If it was just the current product set, I’d say a year to 18
months,” said Chuck Rifici, CEO of the Toronto-based cannabis company
Auxly.
“But because we have edibles and a bunch of new product types coming
in October, I think it’ll be the better part of three years before we
have true equilibrium and oversupply in the space.”
Licensed producers have been adding capacity in droves. Millions of
square feet of new greenhouse space has been built since last summer.
But for every new gram produced, new demand is piling up as well.
“The medical cannabis market still grows by about five per cent a
month,” said Rifici. “We have about 300,000 Canadians accessing
medically, so that’s a drain on the system, as well as international
exports that are starting to amplify.”
Cannabis-infused food and drink promises to open a whole new segment
of the market. A recent report by Deloitte found 49 per cent of probable
cannabis users in Canada are willing to try edibles. But that growth
comes with a whole new batch of regulations and expectations.
It may take as many as three years before licensed producers are growing
enough to supply the recreational, medicinal and edible markets. (Jeff
McIntosh/Canadian Press)
Health Canada will require strict rules around shelf life and
refrigeration. There will be specific rules around doses per serving.
And that’s where Kevin Letun and Pacific Rim Brands hope to step in. His
company has partnered with labs at the University of British Columbia
in Kelowna and the British Columbia Institute of Technology to dig into
the science behind all that.
“Because this is a brand new consumer product and it’s utilizing a
schedule-1 drug that’s been illegal for the last 80 years, consumers are
going to want to trust the brand that they’re going to be trying in the
future,” said Letun.
Right now, Pacific Rim Brands is working on getting the specific
formulations for these products. Once that’s completed, the company
expects to start human testing to gather data. Essentially, the company
is aiming to have formulations ready and approved this summer.
“Then, our goal is to look to either license these to existing
beverage companies, potentially licensed producers or even develop our
own brands,” said Letun.
When the legal recreational market opened on Oct. 17, 2018, stores like
this one in NWT quickly sold out of product. (Hilary Bird/CBC)
Letun said edibles will prove to be a much larger segment of the industry than the current smokeable pot.
“In the next ten years, you’re going to see the smokeable cannabis
(comprising) maybe only 10 to 20 per cent of the market,” he said.
He expects edibles and infused drinks will take off once legalized.
And he said that will go well beyond cannabis-infused beer and wine.
“There are so many other applications on the medicinal side too, when
it comes to sleep aids or sports recovery when it comes to
inflammation, pain, sports recovery.”
Public consultations into the legalization of edible cannabis are
open now and are expected to conclude at the end of February. As rules
become more clear, the summer will see another surge in demand as
companies look to get products ready for a market expected to open up on
October 17.
It has only been three months since cannabis was legalized in Canada.
There’s something to be said for the fact that the highest
profile issue to stem from such an enormous change in drug policy is a
lack of supply.
That issue is moving toward resolution, perhaps more slowly than expected.
Tags: edibles, Hemp, Marijuana Posted in Bougainville Ventures | Comments Off on Bougainville Ventures Inc $BOG.ca – Canada’s chronic shortage of legal cannabis expected to drag out for years $CROP.ca $VP.ca NF.ca $MCOA
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:45 AM on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019
HeartCheck(TM) CardiBeat and GEMS(TM) Mobile review results expected in late February
Completed a request for additional information from the US Food and Drug Administration for the Company’s premarket notification 510(k), Class II medical device clearance application for the HeartCheck™ CardiBeat and GEMS™ Mobile Application.
Toronto, Ontario–(January 29, 2019) – CardioComm Solutions, Inc. (TSXV: EKG) (“CardioComm” or the “Company“), a leading global provider of consumer heart monitoring and electrocardiogram (“ECG“) acquisition and management software solutions, confirms it has completed a request for additional information from the US Food and Drug Administration (“FDA“) for the Company’s premarket notification 510(k), Class II medical device clearance application for the HeartCheck™ CardiBeat and GEMS™ Mobile Application.
The Company had submitted a letter of revocation of their
supplementary information submission on December 26, 2018 in compliance
with the FDA’s directive. The Company has now provided the FDA a
restatement of their response for additional information as of January
23, 2019, which the FDA has confirmed received. The FDA will now have 31
days to complete the 510(k) review of CardioComm’s restated submission.
To learn more about CardioComm’s products and for further updates
regarding HeartCheck™ ECG device integrations please visit the Company’s
websites at www.cardiocommsolutions.com and www.theheartcheck.com.
About CardioComm Solutions
CardioComm Solutions’ patented and proprietary technology is used in
products for recording, viewing, analyzing and storing
electrocardiograms for diagnosis and management of cardiac patients.
Products are sold worldwide through a combination of an external
distribution network and a North American-based sales team. CardioComm
Solutions has earned the ISO 13485:2016 certification, is HIPAA
compliant and holds clearances from the European Union (CE Mark), the
USA (FDA) and Canada (Health Canada).
This release may contain certain forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information with respect to the financial condition,
results of operations and business of CardioComm Solutions and certain
of the plans and objectives of CardioComm Solutions with respect to
these items. Such statements and information reflect management’s
current beliefs and are based on information currently available to
management. By their nature, forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information involve risk and uncertainty because they
relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the
future and there are many factors that could cause actual results and
developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
these forward-looking statements and forward-looking information.
In evaluating these statements, readers should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information.
The Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking
statements and forward-looking information contained in this release
other than as required by applicable laws, including without limitation,
Section 5.8(2) of National Instrument 51-102 (Continuous Disclosure Obligations).
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:38 AM on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019
Trailing twelve months (TTM) consolidated proforma revenue for GLN, 495 Communications and ImpressionX was $40.2M,
EBITDA of $7.9M and a Net Income of just over $3M based on management prepared financial statements (October 1st, 2017 to September 30th, 2018).
VANCOUVER, Jan. 29, 2019 - Good Life Networks Inc. (“GLN“, or the “Company“) (TSXV: GOOD) (FSE: 4G5), a programmatic advertising technology company, today announced an update to its recent acquisition of 495 Communications and ImpressionX.
GLN has completed the operational integration of the ImpressionX
business into GLN operations, and expects the completion of 495
Communications integration into GLN operations by the third week of
February.
Trailing twelve months (TTM) consolidated proforma revenue for GLN, 495 Communications and ImpressionX was $40.2M, with EBITDA of $7.9M and a Net Income of just over $3M based on management prepared financial statements (October 1st, 2017 to September 30th, 2018).
“495 Communications and ImpressionX are an exceptional continuation
of our acquisition strategy and represent a key executional objective
for FY2018. These two acquisitions bring GLN strong revenue and exciting
relationships with marquee publishers and brands that will help us
achieve our current and future growth targets,” stated GLN CEO Jesse
Dylan.
CEO Jesse Dylan will be a guest speaker today at 1:50pm
(Paradigm stage) during the Cantech Investment Conference taking place
at the Metro Toronto Convention center. We would like to invite everyone
attending the convention today and tomorrow to visit our team at the
GLN booth (#520).
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
The GLN Story GLN’s technology is the engine that
sits between advertisers and publishers. The GLN Platform is built for
cross device video advertising: Mobile, In-App, Desktop and CTV
(Connected Television). The Programmatic Video Marketing Platform is
powered by GLN’s Patent Pending proprietary machine learning technology
that targets and connects digital advertisers with consumers three times
faster than industry standards, with among the lowest fraud rates of
similar venders without collecting PII (Personal Identifiable
Information). Advertisers make more money by reaching their target
audience more effectively. GLN makes money by retaining a percentage of
the advertiser’s fee.
GLN is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada with offices in Newport Beach and Santa Monica California, New York
and UK and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the stock symbol
“GOOD” and The Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the stock symbol 4G5.
Addressable Market: Programmatic trading of digital ads continues to
rise with 65% of all ad expenditure in 2019 being traded
programmatically. Advertisers are projected to spend $84 billion programmatically this year, up from $70 billion in 2018. By 2020 the programmatic ad spend is expected to reach $100 billion according to Zenith Media’s latest Programmatic Marketing Forecasts.
Forward Looking Statements: Forward-looking
statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the
expectations or beliefs regarding future events of management of GLN.
This information and these statements, referred to herein as
“forwardâ€looking statements”, are not historical facts, are made as of
the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements
regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and
statements as to management’s expectations and intentions with respect
to the performance of the company. These statements generally can be
identified by use of forward-looking words such as “may”, “will”,
“expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intends”, “believe” or “continue”
or the negative thereof or similar variations. These forwardâ€looking
statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results
might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking
statements. Important factors that may cause actual results to vary
include without limitation, risks relating to the digital advertising
industry and general economic conditions, success of acquisitions and
any growth strategies implemented by the company. In making the
forwardâ€looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied
several material assumptions, including without limitation that any
acquisitions and corporate directives and initiatives will be
successfully completed in the time expected by management and produce
the desired results, generate the anticipated revenue and expand GLN’s
global reach per management’s expectations. GLN does not assume any
obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the
reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the
forward looking-statements, other than as required by applicable
securities laws. Additional information identifying risks and
uncertainties is contained in GLN’s filings with the Canadian securities
regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com.
[email protected]; CEO Jesse Dylan, 604 265 7511Copyright CNW Group 2019
Tags: adtech, stocks, tsx Posted in Featured, Good Life Networks | Comments Off on Good Life Networks Inc. $GOOD.ca Announces Combined Trailing 12 Month Revenue at just over $40 Million $TTD $RUBI $AT.ca $TRMR $FUEL
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
——————-
Blockchain Tech and the Energy Industry: More Decentralization and Greater Efficiency
The most exciting use of blockchain in the energy industry — and the one that fits best with the whole ethos of decentralization — comes in the context of microgrids.
Even before Bitcoin and blockchain, such grids have been distributed by definition, comprising smaller sources of energy generation (e.g., wind turbines, solar farms) that link together in localized networks in order to provide electricity that isn’t dependent on centralized power plants and utility companies.
The association between blockchains and energy is usually a negative one. “The Bitcoin blockchain is so wasteful of electricity,†or so the argument goes, “that it would push global warming to dangerous levels if it were ever used on a massive scale.†Research published in the influential journal Nature backs up this warning. Yet, if we were to look beyond Bitcoin, it becomes apparent that blockchains in general are being increasingly put to good use by the energy industry.
From their use in energy trades to their incorporation in microgrids,
distributed ledgers are making possible a range of new transactions and
systems. By enabling micro-suppliers to receive quick and easy payments
for contributing electricity to a network, they’re increasing the decentralization of the energy industry, with consumers likely to see their bills become cheaper as a consequence of their entry.
And a similar effect will hopefully be the outcome of allowing energy
giants to trade with each other using blockchains, since increases in
efficiency and security can hopefully be passed on to consumers in the
form of lower energy prices — although there’s always the risk that
energy companies will simply take bigger profits for themselves.
Microgrids
The most exciting use of blockchain in the energy industry — and the
one that fits best with the whole ethos of decentralization — comes in
the context of microgrids. Even before Bitcoin and blockchain, such
grids have been distributed by definition, comprising smaller sources of
energy generation (e.g., wind turbines, solar farms) that link together
in localized networks in order to provide electricity that isn’t
dependent on centralized power plants and utility companies.
However, while the microgrid market has been forecasted by Navigant
Consulting to grow to around $30 billion by 2030, projected growth has
actually stalled in recent years, with Navigant’s research director,
Peter Asmus, telling
Microgrid Knowledge in August that “the overall spend is declining”
relative to predictions made in 2014. Fortunately, blockchain and
distributed ledger technology will increasingly help to kickstart the
sector’s growth in the coming years, as it offers a number of advantages
over alternative ways of delivering microgrids.
For one, the use of blockchain tech promises to increase
interoperability between the numerous energy sources, suppliers and
customers that make up microgrids. In particular, this is the aim being
pursued by the Energy Web Foundation (EWF), an international nonprofit
organization that, according to its director of marketing, Peter
Bronski, is bringing blockchain tech to all areas of the energy
industry.
“EWF is actually building a core blockchain — similar to but
importantly distinct from Ethereum — specifically tailored to the energy
sector and the industry’s unique regulatory, operational, and market
needs: the Energy Web Chain,” he tells Cointelegraph.
“It’ll come as no surprise, I suspect, that blockchain offers
significant cybersecurity and decentralization benefits to the energy
sector. Globally, the energy sector is amidst a fundamental transition
from a centralized electricity grid with a relatively small number of
very large power plants to a decentralized, low-carbon electricity grid
with billions of connected devices such as rooftop solar panels,
batteries, smart thermostats, electric vehicles, etc. Blockchain, and
especially the Energy Web Chain, is very well suited to helping managing
that future grid.”
Already released in beta and expecting its genesis block in the
second quarter of 2019, one of the advantages offered to microgrids by
the Energy Web Chain is the ability to use smart contracts to
efficiently monitor the production and distribution of (renewable)
energy. “For example, whenever a large-scale renewable energy generator
such as wind farm or solar farm generates a megawatt-hour of clean
electricity, that can trigger the generation of a renewable energy
certificate (REC),” Bronski explains. “The creation and ownership
tracking of RECs is a great use case for blockchain technology.”
It’s a testament to the promise shown by EWF and its Energy Web Chain
that a number of big corporations have already signed up to use and
partner with the platform. In November, Siemens joined EWF as a member, while the foundation also counts the likes of Shell, E.On, Centrica, Engine and Iberdrola as affiliates.
And as Stefan Jessenberger at Siemens Digital Grid explains to
Cointelegraph, blockchain won’t simply enable greater security and
efficiency, but also the possibility for changing how energy companies
and producers operate:
“In our view, the blockchain technology might revolutionize the way
DERs [distributed energy resources], grid operators and marketplaces
will interact in a secure, efficient and transparent way while also
enabling new business models. Especially in combination with artificial
intelligence, advanced forecasting algorithms and the usage of
geographical information of the assets, the technology offers promising
capabilities in order to enable the autonomous trading of energy and
flexibility, while incorporating the locational value of DER’s and
loads.â€
In addition to heightened efficiency and transparency, a key
ingredient in the creation of new business models is blockchain’s
ability to enable small producers of energy to be paid quickly for their
contributions to grids.
For example, in September, Australian company Vicinity Centres announced
that it would begin using a blockchain-based delivery platform for the
small energy networks it runs in shopping malls throughout Australia.
This platform has been built by Power Ledger, and it will enable
Vicinity’s malls to sell energy to nearby residents and consumers. And
to do this, the platform will make use of its native Sparkz token, an
ERC-20 token which enables producers and customers to engage in “frictionless†trades with each other without having to rely on intermediaries.
Trading energy
Aside from offering a secure record of transactions and also rewards
for producers, blockchain tech is set to serve the energy industry in
other ways. One of its most significant uses will be in the area of
energy markets, where oil, gas, coal and other sources of energy are
traded between producers, distributors and financial institutions.
It’s here that Vakt operates, having established
itself in June 2018 with the aim of creating a “post-trade processing
platform” for any kind of tradable commodity, including energy. In
November, it launched
its first usable platform, which will, for the time being, allow for
the recording of trades in oil, but which Vakt plans to expand to “all
physically traded energy commodities.”
For a company that has only just launched its first product, Vakt
boasts some high-profile users — including BP, Shell, Equinor, Gunvor
and Mercuria — which will all use Vakt’s platform in parallel with their
internal systems for recording trades. The post-trade platform will run
on J.P. Morgan‘s Quorum blockchain, which is essentially a permissioned version of Ethereum
that allows for private — as well as public — smart contracts and also
for zero-knowledge proofs. This makes it convenient for any enterprise
that doesn’t want to broadcast the value of its purchases and trade
deals to the world, while Vakt itself advertises that its platform will offer up to “40% savings across operations” as a result of putting details on a shared ledger.
Speaking at the time of the launch, Shell’s executive vice president of trading and supply, Andrew Smith, explained in broad terms what he expects blockchain tech to bring to the industry.
“Digitalisation is changing how the energy value chain works. It’s an
exciting time. Collaboration with our peers and some of the industry’s
key players is the best way to combine market expertise and achieve the
scale necessary to launch a digital transaction platform that could
transform the way we all do business. Ultimately the aim is improved
speed and security, which benefits everyone along the supply chain from
market participants to customers.”
Something very similar to Vakt is being built by Komgo, a Switzerland-based alliance of “fifteen of the world’s largest banking and commodity companies,” according to an article
published on the organization’s own website in October. What’s
interesting is that Komgo includes some of the same companies as Vakt
(e.g., Shell, Gunvor, Mercuria), suggesting that the energy industry is
very interested in having some kind of blockchain-based system for the
processing of energy commodity trades — and is currently trialling more
than one in an effort to see which one works best. The fact that it will
be working with ConsenSys
— which builds apps and platforms based around Ethereum — indicates
that it’s drawing on plenty of pre-existing knowledge of blockchain
architecture.
Challenges
But as promising as blockchain tech seems for the energy industry,
there are, as ever, a number of challenges that have to be overcome
before distributed ledgers become an integral part of the sector.
“First, technical challenges have to be solved, e. g. scalability,
interoperability, energy efficiency,†says Stefan Jessenberger. “Second,
the regulatory and legal frameworks in relevant markets have to be
adapted in order to make full use of the potential efficiency gains
provided by […] future blockchain based energy systems.â€
From the technical side of things, scalability
is the biggest issue here, although the platforms surveyed above all
believe they’re well on their way to producing workable solutions.
“EWF and our 90+ Affiliates are actively designing solutions into the
Energy Web Chain to address known variables that we believe will be
important for broad adoption across the energy sector,” explains EWF’s
Peter Bronski. “A few examples: a) We’re using a
Proof-of-Authority-based approach to consensus, because we believe that
degree of validator oversight will be important, especially to
regulators, in the highly regulated energy sector. b) At the same time
that the Energy Web Chain is an open-source, public blockchain, we’re
also building in features that can keep sensitive information private,
so that only approved actors can access confidential data.”
It may not be immediately obvious as to how a proof-of-authority
(PoA) consensus mechanism and privacy options improve scalability.
However, because PoA avoids the intensive cryptographic computations of proof-of-work
(PoW), any chain using it can thereby reach greater capacities.
Similarly, the permissioned aspect of the Energy Web Chain means that
not all information produced by the chain will be broadcast to every
participant, a feature that once again avoids a considerable amount of
excess computation.
And while these specific features are being implemented by only one
blockchain, most other energy-related platforms are similarly
circumventing PoW in order to achieve more scalable results. So even if
blockchain-based energy networks still have a way to go before they
enjoy widespread use, they look increasingly prepared to handle such
use.
Tags: Bitcoin, blockchain, tsx Posted in ThreeD, ThreeD Capital | Comments Off on ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – #Blockchain Tech and the Energy Industry: More #Decentralization and Greater Efficiency $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:19 AM on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019
Announced the successful acquisition of two corporate training contracts with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (Mahatransco), both located in Mumbai, India.
These two training programs come on the heels of betterU’s efforts to enhance their revenue focus and after the successful completion of other such training programs and custom development projects
OTTAWA, Ontario, Jan. 29, 2019 – betterU Education Corp. (the “Company” or “betterU”) is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of two corporate training contracts with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (Mahatransco), both located in Mumbai, India. These two training programs come on the heels of betterU’s efforts to enhance their revenue focus and after the successful completion of other such training programs and custom development projects with groups such as Central Bank of India, Dena Bank, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Blue Star, Dimension Data, Evry India and Acliv Technologies.
The contract awarded by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) focused on
training in Effective Communication for Sales, which was delivered at
Pune and successfully completed mid November 2018. L&T is valued at
US$17 billion and is one of the largest Indian multi-national companies
headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company has business
interests in engineering, construction, manufacturing goods, information
technology, and financial services, and has offices worldwide.
The contract awarded by Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission
Company Limited (Mahatransco) focused on Management Development training
and was delivered in two batches at Mahabaleshwar. Training was
successfully completed mid December 2018 and early January 2019.
Mahatransco is wholly owned by the Government of Maharashtra, is the
largest electric power transmission utility in state sector in India and
owns and operates most of Maharashtra’s Electric Power Transmission
System.
Corporate training for B2B enterprises is just part of betterU’s
education-to-employment ecosystem. Many organizations understand that
employees need new and updated skills to remain productive and engaged.
There is great value for small, medium and large corporates to purchase
and access training content through betterU because of the customizable
and flexible options available. betterU’s global partnerships offer many
cutting-edge and forward-thinking training options that will keep any
organization competitive in today’s fast paced economy. “With these two
prestigious wins, betterU positions itself as one of the leading
training providers for corporate training in Leadership Development and
Business & Management skills training. We are also at the forefront
of providing an immense learning experience for corporates with the
launch of our Upskill Platform.†said Sameer Vatsa, Country Head for
India.
betterU, a global education to employment platform, aims to provide
access to quality education from around the world to foster growth and
opportunity to those who want to better their lives. The company plans
to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and
enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an
integrated education-to-employment ecosystem. betterU’s offerings can be
categorized into several broad functions: to compliment school programs
with flexible KG-12 programs preparing children for next stage of
education, to provide access to global educational opportunities from
leading educators, to foster an exceptional educational environment by
providing befitting skills that lead to a better career, to bridge the
gap between one’s existing education and prospective job requirement by
training them and lastly, to connect the end user to various job
opportunities.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements and
information, which may involve risks and uncertainties. The results or
events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual
results or events. Factors that might cause a difference include, but
are not limited to, competitive developments, risks associated with
betterU’s growth, the state of the financial markets, regulatory risks
and other factors. There can be no assurance or guarantees that any
statements of forward-looking information contained in this release will
prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all
subsequent written and oral statements containing forward-looking
information are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the
dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this
notice. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, betterU
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future
events or otherwise. Readers should not place undue reliance on any
statements of forward-looking information that speak only as of the date
of this release. Further information on betterU’s public filings,
including their most recent audited consolidated financial statements,
are available at www.sedar.com.
Tags: edtech, india, tsx Posted in betterU Education Corp | Comments Off on betterU $BTRU.ca advances its corporate training efforts in India and is awarded two contracts totaling $26,812 $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:15 AM on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019
Announced that its wholly owned subsidiary hempSMART™, Ltd. has successfully completed the first month of signups for its UK prelaunch
The Company’s UK division has implemented a regional office, customer service team and a distribution center that has been established by personnel with several years of experience in the network marketing sector
Escondido, California–(January 29, 2019) – Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTCQB: MCOA) (“MCOA” or the “Company“), an innovative hemp and cannabis corporation, is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary hempSMART™, Ltd. has successfully completed the first month of signups for its UK prelaunch.
The Company’s UK division has implemented a regional office, customer
service team and a distribution center that has been established by
personnel with several years of experience in the network marketing
sector.
On March 9th the Company will celebrate the opening of hempSMART UK
with a launch event in London. This event is expected to be sold out, as
a large number of Associates have already purchased tickets. We have
several international speakers attending and associates travelling from
all over the UK.
Full field marketing and training has already commenced for the
launch that is expected in early March. The hempSMART team has already
taken the appropriate measures to manufacture adequate inventory to meet
the expected demand for products during the launch. MCOA anticipates
that the launch event in the UK will be a starting point for the
Company’s plan to sell its products in additional countries on the
European continent.
Ian Harvey, hempSMART’s Global Sales Director, said, “We have
invested in a support infrastructure that will give our associates a
fantastic platform to build on, one that supports growth on both a
personal and business level. We are delighted to report that we have
over 900 people pre-registered and as we get nearer to the full launch
in March, recruitment has exploded and it is expected that this number
will more than double!”
MCOA CEO, Donald Steinberg, stated, “As legislation continues to
evolve and the demand for hemp derived CBD products grows
internationally, we will continue to launch our hempSMART associate
marketing model and products to additional countries across the world.”
About Marijuana Company of America, Inc. MCOA is a corporation which participates in: (1) product research and development of legal hemp-based consumer products under the brand name “hempSMART™”, that targets general health and well-being; (2) an affiliate marketing program to promote and sell its legal hemp-based consumer products containing CBD; (3) leasing of real property to separate business entities engaged in the growth and sale of cannabis in those states and jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized and properly regulated for medicinal and recreations use; and, (4) the expansion of its business into ancillary areas of the legalized cannabis and hemp industry, as the legalized markets and opportunities in this segment mature and develop.
About Our hempSMART Products Containing CBD The
United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized CBD
as a safe and effective drug for any indication. Our products containing
CBD derived from industrial hemp are not marketed or sold based upon
claims that their use is safe and effective treatment for any medical
condition as drugs or dietary supplements subject to the FDA’s
jurisdiction.
Forward Looking Statements This
news release contains “forward-looking statements” which are not purely
historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans,
expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking
statements include, among other things, the development, costs and
results of new business opportunities and words such as “anticipate”,
“seek”, intend”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “project”, “plan”, or
similar phrases may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual
results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking
statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others,
the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S.
and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company’s
reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of
cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of
the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update
the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual
results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations
and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can
be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or
intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of
the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk
factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-12G, our
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from
time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more
information, please visit www.sec.gov.
Tags: Marijuana, tsx Posted in Marijuana Company of America | Comments Off on Marijuana Company of America $MCOA Announces Successful Prelaunch of hempSMART(TM) in the United Kingdom $AERO $CBDS $CGRW $APH.ca $GBLX $ACG $ACB $WEED.ca $HIP.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:50 PM on Monday, January 28th, 2019
SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc.
(TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated
websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The
company has year to date revenue of $7.4 million representing a 625%
increase over the same period in 2017.
EGLX: TSX-V ———————————-
An interview with Mike Sepso, co-founder of Major League Gaming and Electronic Sports Group.
Esports, the professional level of video gaming, is still a relatively new form of entertainment, and many people still think watching other people play video games is an odd way to spend time.
However, the content category has come a long way and continues to grow at a rapid clip — and that hasn’t happened by accident.
Keith Noonan Jan 27, 2019 at 9:04AM
Esports, the professional level of video gaming, is still a
relatively new form of entertainment, and many people still think
watching other people play video games is an odd way to spend time.
However, the content category has come a long way and continues to grow
at a rapid clip — and that hasn’t happened by accident. People in the
industry have been working for decades to get it to where it is today,
and Mike Sepso has been a big part of the push.
In 2002, Sepso co-founded Major League Gaming (MLG), one of the
pioneering organizations in esports and one that played a key role in
bringing competitive gaming as a spectator sport to greater prominence.
He sold MLG to Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI)
in 2015 and came on board at the company as a senior vice president in
charge of esports. Sepso sees a huge growth runway for competitive
gaming as spectator entertainment content, and he left Activision last
year to form Electronic Sports Group, a company that’s advising clients
across a range of industries about business opportunities in the esports
space.
I had the chance to interview him and pick his brain about the
history of esports, where he sees the industry going, and what this
emerging content category could mean for investors. Read on for an
inside look at the rapidly expanding world of esports.
Image source: Getty Images.
Understanding esports and what’s ahead
Despite professional gaming’s exploding popularity, the content
category isn’t broadly known or understood outside of millennial and
Generation Z age demographics. There are differing opinions about what esports
is, even among people who follow the space, but if anyone is qualified
to describe it, it’s probably Sepso. I asked the industry veteran how he
would describe esports to people who might not have a lot of previous
exposure to it. Here’s what he had to say:
I spent many, many years explaining esports conceptually to people.
Generally speaking, it’s team-based competition. Two teams are pitted
against each other to achieve an objective on an even playing field that
requires a tremendous amount of skill and practice and teamwork to
accomplish. So from that perspective, taking that athleticism out of it,
everything sounds a lot like sports.
More recently, I would say in the past couple years, it’s much easier
to describe esports because really all you have to say is, “There’s
about a half a billion people that watch it.” It’s becoming far and away
the fastest-growing spectator sport among people under 35. So, when you
say that to people who work in the traditional sports or broadcasting
business, it’s a massive sort of light bulb.
A scene from Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch. Image source: Activision Blizzard.
To put esports growth in context, Newzoo estimates that global
revenue for professional competitive gaming will have climbed from $493
million in 2016 to roughly $1.5 billion in 2020 — and that’s just
scratching the surface of the potential market. Other industry snapshots
take a broader view of what constitutes esports — and they report
bigger market sizes and faster growth than Newzoo, factoring in cash
sources like gambling, investments, and business from more-casual gaming
events and broadcasts. Precise figures for the current and near-term
values of the market probably aren’t as important as the trend and the
implications. There’s impressive growth here and huge room for
expansion.
Building story lines
The esports and traditional pro sports industries won’t be neatly
comparable across all dimensions, but it’s not unreasonable to think
that the types of personal attachments and story lines that have formed
around teams and players in the NFL and NBA (and been central to the
growth of those leagues) could have counterparts in professional gaming.
Sepso thinks that the evolution of those dynamics will play a role in
encouraging industry growth, and he says he’s already seeing some
promising developments on that front with the Overwatch League:
I think the most interesting thing will be, specifically with the Overwatch
League, will be as it moves to a distributed city-based system. So now
all of the teams, all of the franchise owners own a particular market:
L.A., New York, Boston, et cetera. They’re not playing in those markets
yet. Once that distributed model takes effect and you have teams playing
home and away games in all of these cities around the world, I think
you’re going to see a much more interesting narrative develop that
intertwines those cities with the teams and their brands.
I asked Sepso how soon he sees esports becoming a reliable sales
pillar for gaming’s major publishers. Here’s his outlook on when that
might happen and how to measure the content category’s emergence for
leading video game companies:
These are multibillion dollars of revenue businesses, so in order for
esports to be kind of meaningful, it has to be at least over 10% of the
total revenue picture. I think we’re still several years away from that
being the case, but it’s hard to pinpoint when that’s going to happen
because the growth rate is so high. It’s really just “How quickly can
the audience be effectively monetized,” and some of that honestly is
outside of the control of the publishers.
Sepso thinks that advertisers are still working out the best ways to approach and engage with the fast-growing esports audience.
So the revenue streams that are sort of powering that growth are
going to come from rights fees and sponsorship and advertising. And, at
the end of the day, rights fees are sort of inherently driven by
sponsorship and advertising spend, too, so it’s really got a lot to do
with how quickly the advertising industry and the consumer products
industry and various other kind of big advertising vectors figure out
how to tap into this type of property and engage with the audience.
Members of Overwatch League’s New York Excelsior team celebrating a win. Image source: Activision Blizzard.
Who’s winning the game?
When it comes to which video game companies are creating the content
and structure needed to bring in advertisers and investors, Sepso sees a
lot of promising efforts, but he outlined two clear leaders in these
early days: Activision Blizzard with the Overwatch League and Tencent (NASDAQOTH:TCEHY) with the League of Legends Championship Series. He said:
So I think that across the board generally speaking, they’re doing a
great job. But this is sort of early days of this new highly regulated,
highly structured, highly controlled league system being developed. So
you really only have Overwatch League and League of Legends
Championship Series. Those are the two kind of big, global franchise
league structures out there. Those are clearly the two best to invest in
from an advertiser’s point of view because they’re big and stable and
there’s a lot of capital and resources behind promoting them and making
them bigger and investing in the quality of the content.
So, as more of those leagues are developed and launched by the
publishers, and the ad industry figures out how to engage with that type
of system, I think that’s when the growth curve will really take off
from a financial performance basis. But the nice thing is that the
audience is already there. You can kind of see that, with an audience as
big as esports is at an aggregate level, if you can apply even a small
percentage of the typical monetization rates per fan that the
traditional sports leagues have to that model, you get a massive revenue
opportunity.
Asked what it will take to get esports to the next level and generate
increasing momentum for mainstream expansion, Sepso stressed the
importance of expanding the appeal while still remaining true to what
made esports attractive to the core fans.
I think what you’re starting to see is connection points outside of
the core audience. So it’s important that as esports becomes more
mainstream and more commercialized, that the core fan base is serviced.
You don’t want to sort of skip past the people that got you there.
Especially with esports, that authenticity metric is critical. So
keeping that fan base engaged but then expanding into new connection
points is very important, too.
The Electronic Sports Group co-founder sees television distribution
deals, celebrity involvement, and increasing connection points across
the media landscape helping to make the content more accessible and
easier to discover.
Since primarily you only had esports broadcast on places like Twitch,
outside of the gaming community, it was difficult to generate any
awareness that this was going on. But now … you’ve got Overwatch League in particular distributing on Disney network channels, and the whole industry is getting more mainstream in general…
So I think you’re going to see more and more mass-market awareness of
this happening, and as fans come in, the other interesting thing that
we’re starting to see is more and more fans that aren’t gamers. So it
becomes an interesting place for them to connect — where potentially
esports starts to drive more adoption of the core business of these
publishers, but importantly, I just think that you’re getting bigger and
bigger and more mainstream audiences engaged with esports.
What started out as small tournaments held in conference rooms and
auditoriums and had its biggest events occasionally featured on niche,
gaming-and-tech-focused television networks and websites has evolved to
become one of the most popular content categories on streaming platforms
like YouTube and Twitch and is making inroads at channels operated by
TV leaders including Disney, Comcast, and AT&T.
Esports is still relatively young, and investors should proceed with
the understanding that individual leagues and organizations will have to
navigate unpredictable twists and turns, but there’s undeniable
momentum behind the content and excitement for what lies ahead. If Sepso
and other insiders are right, competitive gaming is on track for
meteoric growth over the next decade, and industry players that help
facilitate that growth will be richly rewarded.
Tags: esports, Fortnite Posted in Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. | Comments Off on Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca – What’s Next for Esports? An Insider Weighs In $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:01 AM on Monday, January 28th, 2019
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
COMPLETED SALE OF FIVE STAR-A.D.S SYSTEMS TO ALMASRIA UNIVERSAL AIRLINES
Announced that AlMasria Universal Airlines of Egypt has decided to
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BOMBARDER JOINT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Joint research and development program with Bombardier and other
industrials and universities of Canada is progressing very positively.
The STAR-A.D.S. ® system which is at the heart of the program, after
having been validated and extensively used by the aircraft
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EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES APPLICATIONS
Star’s Land System Aided Medical Monitoring system for ground
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CHECK OUT OUR RECENT INTERVIEW
FULL DISCLOSURE: Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd. is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:51 AM on Monday, January 28th, 2019
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Many big players including IBM and Walmart are continuing to push ahead, confident it can provide real value for organizations in need of innovative solutions around record keeping and secure recording of transactions.
Blockchain traveled a rocky road in 2018 but is still hotly tipped as
a technology with huge potential for transforming business and
day-to-day life.
The past year saw huge drops in value for its flagship use case –
cryptocurrency Bitcoin – and reports that many pilot programs are
failing to show true value. However, many big players including IBM and
Walmart are continuing to push ahead, confident it can provide real
value for organizations in need of innovative solutions around record
keeping and secure recording of transactions.
5 Blockchain Trends Everyone Should Know About
So, here are my five predictions for how we’re likely to see blockchain use growing and continuing to make headlines – although they may be slightly less hyperbolic – in 2019.
Less Hype and Scams, More Substance
Any new technology has the potential to attract snake-oil salesman,
and perhaps blockchain attracted more than most. This meant that 2018
saw regulators
stepping in, meaning that those offering “miracle solutions†and
get-rich-quick schemes built (or not built) on blockchain should be far
less visible in the next 12 months.
What we should see instead is results of more considered, mature
endeavors in the blockchain arena. Businesses such as Walmart that is
investing in solutions designed to shore up food safety standards in the
wake of crises such as 2018’s E.coli outbreak. Walmart’s solution
means anyone involved in the supply of certain products will be able to
trace individual items back to the farm where they were grown, using a
tamper-proof distributed database.
Amazon is also announcing
blockchain projects for this year – with two blockchain initiatives
aiming to enable its AWS customers to take advantage of distributed
ledger technology in their own projects.
With big players like those two (and others) entering the game, it
seems certain that blockchain will start to demonstrate that it can
bring real value during 2019.
The Blockchain and Internet of Things Convergence Continues to Gather Pace
According to one report, the use of blockchain technology to secure data and devices in the internet of things (IoT)
doubled during 2018. This trend is likely to continue next year and
beyond, as more organizations wake up to the potential of distributed,
encrypted ledger technology in this field. The powerful encryption used
to secure blockchains means that attackers need a vast amount of
computing power to brute-force their way into just one node.
Additionally, their decentralized nature means attackers can’t bypass
security by disabling a single-point-of-failure with, for example, a
denial-of-service attack.
As well as security, blockchain offers utility benefits in the IoT
field, too. With the number of connected devices predicted to top 26 billion during 2019,
vast amounts of machine-to-machine communication will be taking place,
at far too high a speed for humans to keep up manually. Experts predict
that blockchains will increasingly be used to log and monitor these
communications and transactions, and although this convergence is at a
very early stage, 2019 will see an explosion in its use.
More Blockchain Offerings from the Financial Services Industry
Cryptocurrency values may have taken a hammering during 2018, due in
no small part to a bursting of the speculative bubble built up around
the arrival of such potentially transformative technology.
But the mainstream financial services industry was undoubtedly shaken
by the emergence of this tech and the potential it has to disrupt their
businesses. So much so that it seems likely they will be at the
forefront of the next wave, when it comes crashing in. One example is
Bakkt, the Bitcoin-based futures trading platform planned by ICE, the
operator the New York Stock Exchange.
In developing markets particularly, where much of the population is
labeled “unbankable†due to institutions’ inability or unwillingness to
connect them to its services, start-ups are likely to lead the way with
innovative services built around blockchains and digital,
fraud-resistant currencies, storage, and transfer mechanisms.
More Investment Opportunities
Not just in quirky, unknown cryptocurrencies with unproven use cases –
blockchain technology makes it possible to offer and track investments
in a whole range of asset classes that traditionally have been the
preserve of institutional investors and the wealthy.
For example, tokenization lowers the bar to entry for investment in
property, potentially allowing more liquid trading of high-value assets
and allowing more of us a slice of the pie of the growth (or losses)
they can generate. Regulation will be needed before these investment
opportunities will be considered safe enough for everyday investors to
take part, and as we’ve seen over the last year, this certainly seems to
be on its way.
Art, fine wines and property are all examples of investment assets
that traditionally were only an option for well-off investors with the
luxury of being able to put capital in up-front and be in no hurry for
their investment to pay off. With regulation in place, everyday
investors can purchase digitally-backed “shares†in these asset classes
and sell them off when they need to liquidate their funds.
Additionally, blockchain-based “smart contracts”
are designed to reduce the reliance on middlemen such as brokers and
lawyers when establishing these transactions, further lowering the costs
and barriers to entry.
Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) will still be big business
I’m not going to be stupid or irresponsible enough to predict that
the value of cryptocurrencies is going to shoot into the stratosphere
(again) in 2019. As I’ve said before, speculating on the value of these
digital assets isn’t my business, and if the tumultuous volatility of
recent years proves anything, it’s that no one can accurately predict
what will happen next.
One thing that is clear, though, is that cryptocurrencies are far
from dead. Using the Bitcoin price as a benchmark, prices are still some
ten times higher than they were two years ago, and trading volumes on
exchanges show there is still a healthy appetite for speculative
investment.
And that’s before we even start to consider the possible future of
alternative cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Ripple and Tether, that
all promise to improve on Bitcoin in some way – offering more utility,
security or speed.
